History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 60

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III > Part 60

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For Butler 1

Eastborough 1

" Felton . 18

" Hudson .35

making a total of fifty-five votes thrown, not one- twentieth of the present voting population of the town.

On motion of Mr. Charles Brigham, who was and always continued to be a strong adherent of the " Fel- ton" party, it was unanimously voted to call the new town Hudson.

The secretary, Stuart, was authorized to collect the funds subscribed and the field of action was enlarged and included, as we shall see, the neighboring towns and finally the Legislature.

We must now return to the committee of five and record their proceedings, which have been carried on during this time and simultaneously with the events which have just been mentioned. Their first act was to issue proposals for the necessary maps and plans which should show the boundary lines of the existing towns, the proposed boundaries of the new town, and the rivers, railroads, factories and dwelling-houses, in so far as possible, situated upon the territory in question.

Mr. George S. Rawson, a civil engineer of the town of Marlborough located in Feltonville, obtained the contract, and the committee in its final report to the citizens stated that his work was performed in a most satisfactory manner. Provided with the necessary equipment to render their propositions intelligible, the Feltonville committee, as they say in their report, established "a system of diplomacy" between the committees from the adjoining towns appointed at the November meetings, at their request and themselves. The first act was to invite all the committees to " per- ambulate" the proposed bounds with the Feltonville committee, and this invitation was accepted by the Marlborough committee alone. As a result of this "perambulation " the Marlborough committee voted unanimously "not to accept or report to the town the line which had been devised by the citizens of Fel- tonville," but on their part a line was proposed to run

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HUDSON.

from Stephen Fay's place on the west to the extreme easterly bound of Marlborough at or near Albion Parmenter's on the Sudbury road, and this line was subsequently adopted by both committees although not all of the Feltonville members were present at the meeting.

A sub-committee, consisting of Mr. Joslin and Mr. Brown, was appointed to confer with the Berlin com- mittee at the office of Dr. Hartshorn, of that town, in order to arrange, if possible, an amicable settlement by which the territory asked for from Berlin might be obtained. Although the committee was courteously received and the whole question fairly debated, the proposition of the Feltonville gentlemen to pay the proportionate part of the town debt, and even more, was not acceded to, and all negotiations with Berlin ceased.

The next venture was on the part of another sub- committee, consisting of Mr. Brigham, Mr. Houghton and Mr. Stratton, to negotiate an arrangement with the Bolton committee, but here again the representa- tives from Feltonville found strong objection and op- position to their plans. The learned committee on the part of Bolton were well aware of the important interests confided to their care, and were on the alert to guard against the encroachments of the enemy. The Feltonville committee reported to their col- leagues that they met the Bolton committee at the house of S. H. Howe, and finding "the temper and spirit of their Bolton friends anything but facile in the premises, no decisive headway was made toward an amicable adjustment of differences. This (Bolton) committee, like the Emperor of France, standing upon their dignity, and jealous of any infringement of their territory, neither suggested a change of line nor sub- mitted any proposition upon which it would be possi- ble to effect a division." The Feltonville committee, as a last resort, submitted a proposition, which " was met with ridicule, and thus terminated attempted negotiations with Bolton." As nothing but a small portion of land was taken from Stow, no objection on the part of that town was made to the proposed sep- aration of the new town.

At the outset, then, the situation with regard to the surrounding towns was as follows : Stow acquiescent, as it had but little interest involved ; Marlborough practically willing, if obliged to be, but driving the best bargain possible; Bolton and Berlin in direct opposition. The Feltonville committee practically met with a rebuff on all sides, and the work before it was by no means small or unimportant.

We have seen that the spirit of the citizens within the limits of the new town was active and confident, and their committee, despite the adverse circum- stances, went to work with a will to secure the desired end. On the evening of December 18, 1865, the Fel- tonville committee decided upon and submitted to the committee on the part of the town of Marlborough the following proposition ; "That the citizens of Fel-

tonville, residing within the limits of said contem- plated new town, will pay to the town of Marlborough twenty-five per cent. of the debt against the town of Marlborough, existing at the time an act of incorpor- ation may be secured, each section to retain the prop- erty within its own limits without further division, and each section to support its own paupers, provided, however, that the town of Marlborough shall not di- rectly nor indirectly oppose before the Legislature the prayer of the petition of the citizens of Felton- ville for an act of incorporation."

This proposition did not meet with any favor among the Marlborough people, and after much writing be- tween the committees, and after having a town-meet - ing at which the citizens of Marlborough adhered to their committee's propositions, and after further negotiations, it was agreed that the citizens of Felton- ville should not be opposed in their effort for a new town on the following conditions, which were finally accepted by the Feltonville committee. By this ar- rangement, the dividing line was made to run from Stephen Fay's, on the Northborough line, to Albion Parmenter's, on the Sudbury line, the property in each section to remain the property of that section, with the exception of the almshouse real and personal estate, which, should be sold at auction, the proceeds to go two-thirds to Marlborough, one-third to Felton- ville, the new town to pay one-third of the Marl- borough town debt, and to receive one-third of whatever might be refunded to the town of Marl- borough by Massachusetts, or the United States for bounties paid, or State aid given to families, over and above reasonable expenses, each town to support its own panpers.

In this way the primary and most important part of the work was accomplished, and the committees from the two sections of the old town parted with mutual expressions of esteem and good will.

Petitions in the mean time had been circulating for signatures, and were presented to the General Court at the opening of its session in 1866-one on the part of the citizens of Feltonville, signed by George Hough- ton and 264 others ; one representing certain parties iu the northeast part of Marlborough, which had not been included, as we have seen, in the limits of the new town, signed by Lyman Perry and seven others, one on the part of certain residents of the town of Bolton, signed by Daniel Stratton and twenty-four others ; and one on the part of certain inhabitants of the town of Berlin, signed by Ira H. Brown and seven others. Unfortunately, there was not at this time entire unanimity on the part of the people living on the Bolton territory sought to be included in the new town, and this made an apparent weakness in the peti- tion on the part of the Bolton people, which was made use of later on in the legislative hearings to defeat the efforts of the petitioners to secure the desired territory from the town of Bolton.

These petitions were referred in due course to the

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Joint Standing Committee on Towns, and on Janu- ary 30, 1866, the matter was set down for a hearing before that committee. It needs no stretch of the imagination to believe that January 30th was a day of great, though suppressed, excitement on the part of the advocates of the new town, and that large num- bers took the first train over the Fitchburg, either as witnesses or spectators, for the scene of the argumen- tative battle which meant so much to the divisionists. That the adjoining towns of Bolton and Berlin felt it to be an important matter is seen from the fact that such well-known advocates as the present United States Senator Hoar, Charles G. Stevens, of Clinton, and Dr. Hartshorn, of Berlin, were in attendance, to guard the interests of Worcester County, Bolton and Berliu respectively. To Mr. James T. Joslin, of the committee, was assigned the task of presenting the cause of the petitioners, who asked the committee to assign a day when they would view the premises. February 1st was appointed, and on that day the committee accompanied by Senator J. W. P. Abbott, of Westford, of this district, Representative Nahum Witherbee, of the House, and representatives of the different parties in interest, came to Feltonville, drove to Bolton and Berlin, and returned to Boston by way of Marlborough and the Old Colony road.

The committee was thus enabled to see the exact situation of the respective towns with regard to each other and to form an idea of the capabilities of the section for sustaining a town government. Stopping for dinner, we are sure that the ladies of Feltonville put in an argument which had telling effect, in the way of all the dainties and delicacies of the season.

On the 13th day of February the committee resumed its hearings, which continued for four days, taking testimony, and on the fifth day the flood-gates of elo- quence were let loose. The speeches of the counsel for the several parties were reported stenographically at the time, and printed in full in the local paper, and we are thus enabled to read at this time the respective arguments for and against this movement.

dozen houses to the undesirable territory obtained on that side from the town of Marlborough. In discuss- ing the petitioners for this measure, in which he was directly interested for the town of Berlin, he said they were of two kinds, those from Marlborough and those from Berlin. Of the Marlborough petitioners he said that they had no moral weight or standing in the matter, as they were not residents, and could as well petition for a part of Boston or Nantucket. Con- cerning the Berlin petitioners, seven or eight in num- ber, he declared that only two owned real estate, and that but a small per cent. of the whole territory asked for, either in value or extent. An eminent man in his chosen profession, one cannot fail to see from reading this speech that he was hy no means un- acquainted with argumentative weapons or unskilled in their use. He certainly made a good use of every opportunity presented to him on this occasion.

The argument of Mr. Hoar was based largely upon the theory that it would be unconstitutional if an act were passed granting the wishes of the petitioners in regard to Bolton and Berlin, because it would interfere with the lines already established for senatorial, congress- ional and councilor districts, at that time made to conform to county lines, that the decennial census had just been taken and these lines could not be changed until the next one was taken, and until that time Hudson's citizens would be voters in one place for one purpose and in another place for others-an impracticable and improper arrangement-and even if it were possible to be done, it would violate that pro- vision of the State Constitution which provides that no town or ward shall be divided in making up repre- sentative districts. He also claimed that it was against public policy to destroy the unity of the older towns for the sake of pleasing the younger manufacturing centres, and that existing towns'should be kept intact for the very purpose of having different purposes united in one community, that each may profit from the other. He depicted in eloquent language the tender associa- tions, memories, and affections of citizens for their native towns and expressed the hope that these would not be destroyed in this instance. He touched upon the fact that some of the present residents of the por- tion desired from Bolton did not favor the petition, and pictured in vivid colors the practical desolation and annihilation of the old town of Bolton, should Hudson's wishes be granted. Calling to mind the great ability of Senator Hoar both as a speaker and acute reasoner, it is hardly necessary to remark that his argument, which is only poorly analyzed here, must have had great weight with the committee.

Dr. Hartshorn, of Berlin, was the first to take the floor, and made a brief but concise and forcible argu- ment in behalf of Berlin alone, leaving it to Mr. Hoar to deal with the larger interests of Worcester County and Bolton. The speaker insisted that the desired territory from his town should not be given the new town of Hudson because this matter of get- ting an act of incorporation was merely the ambitious scheme of the two leading manufacturers of Hudson, Messrs. Brigham and Houghton, for their own ag- grandizement, and was opposed to the wishes of the town of Berlin, one hundred and eighty-one of whose Mr. Joslin, in closing the case for the petitioners, answered the objections of counsel for the remon- strants, especially Mr. Hoar, claiming that not only was the request of the petitioners constitutional, but also one that in like cases had been frequently granted by the Legislature; that the question of changing voters had signed a remonstrance to the General Court. He declared that the evidence presented to the com- mittee showed that the main, if not the only, purpose of the petitioners in wishing to get this territory was to give the new town a better shape topographically, and to make a little better school district by adding a | boundary lines was entirely within the scope of legis-

257

HUDSON.

Jative authority, and had been extended alike to town, county, and even State lines, with the permission of Congress, and cited numerous iustances, which he claimed sustained his position. Referring to the rel- ative situation of the towns in interest, he claimed that Hudson's situation was such that naturally she did not obtain her full share of municipal privileges, by that fact alone and not on account of any unfriend- liness on the part of the mother towns; that the growth of the place was retarded on account of this fact of its undesirable position and inability to expand in a nat- ural manner. He maintained that this movement on the part of the citizens of Feltonville was in the di- rect line of progress, and that it was not merely not good policy, but also extremely unjust to an enterpris- ing community to force it to remain shackled to old and decaying towns. In closing he marshaled before the committee the many advantages that would result to the new town, presented statistics to show that the village of Feltonville contained all the elements of a successful town, and appealed to their knowledge of the results in similar instances in the past to support him in the statement that no such ruin as had been claimed would result to the older towns of Bolton and Berlin from having a distant and differing community taken from them.

The subject of an act of incorporation for the place of his adoption was one dear to Mr. Joslin's heart, to which he had applied himself arduously and enthusi- astically, and had studied thoroughly, and these facts, together with the fact that he was a young man with his spurs to win, must have inspired him to make the effort of his life, and say, as he did in the opening of his argument, that he felt that he had been guilty almost of a criminal act to undertake so important a matter as the one before them without other and legal assistance.

A week later the committee reported in favor of an act of incorporation from the Marlborough and Stow territory asked for, but refused the petitioners' request in regard to the Bolton and Berlin territory. The reasons for this refusal were the want of unanimity on the part of those living on the desired territory and the difficulties with respect to political boundaries re- ferred to above. An act embodying this decision of the committee was soon passed through the successive legislative stages and was signed by Governor Bul- lock, March 19, 1866, from which time the corporate existence of Hudson takes its date.

In accordance with the provisions of section six of the act of incorporation, two days later, on March 2Ist, Charles H. Robinson, a justice of the peace, issued a warrant to James T. Joslin, one of the inhabitants of the new town, requiring him to notify the inhabitants to mect in " Union Hall" on the following March 31st to elect the necessary town officers, and with the election of these officers on that day the new town was successfully launched upon its municipal career. Without giving the names of all of those who have

held town office during the last twenty-four years, it may not be without interest to many to note the names of the first officers chosen to preside over the interests of the people of this place. They are as follows : Selectmen, Charles H. Robinson, William F. Trowbridge, George Houghton ; Town Clerk, Silas H. Stuart ; Assessors, Alonzo Wood, George Stratton, Lyman Perry ; Overseers of the Poor, Augustus K. Graves, Luman T. Jefts, John A. Howe ; Inspecting School Committee, Rev. H. C. Dugan, George S. Rawson, David B. Goodale ; Treasurer and Collector, George L. Manson ; Constable, William L. Witham.

One week previous to this first town-meeting, on the evening of March 24th, the citizens of Feltonville met to hear the report of their committee upon incor- poration, of which so much has been said heretofore.

The committee reported in writing, and, with con- siderable attention to all the details reported its pro- ceedings from the time of its formation to the final passage of the act of incorporation, and in closing made use of the following language, which might very appropriately he inscribed upon the walls of the Town Hall for the guidance of its citizens in town affairs : "The State in its wisdom has conferred upon us municipal privileges and rights, and now the State demands that we as citizens shall so exercise these rights and privileges that no blot shall be placed up- on the early history of our town to stand as a lasting disgrace through all coming time, nor that the para- mount interests of the State shall suffer any injury through our rashness and indiscretion." The money subscribed was more than sufficient to pay all the bills incurred in obtaining this act from the Legisla- ture, and it may be of interest to note at this time in connection with the large sums of money which are being paid for services in attempting to obtain acts of incorporation, the exact amount which was paid out by the committee of the citizens of Feltonville. According to the statement of the expenses of the committee, the entire outlay was $889.15, $400 of which was for surveying, $433.65 was for expenses at legislative hearings and the balance for sundry items. According to the statements of those now living who were actively interested in this matter, no lobbying was indulged in, no lobbyists hired or unworthy methods employed to gain the desired end, although previously large amounts had been spent by other towns in this way and the feeling at just that time was decidedly against the incorporation of new towns. Hudson, therefore, started upon its history with a clean and honorable record, and without any unpleasant feeling toward it on the part of the older towns from which it had been taken. The question of the name was the only thing which had arisen to disturb the entire unanimity of her citizens, and it is undoubtedly true that there will be many who will always claim that the wrong name was finally adopted. All that was desired or that was really needed to make the new town what it should be, as we have seen, was not ob-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

tained in the first act of incorporation, and Messrs. Brigham and Houghton were not in the habit of yielding a point which they had started to make, es- pecially in a matter of this kind where they felt themselves to be in the right.

Consequently before the next Legislature assem- bled, new petitions were circulated, signed and pre- sented at the proper time to the General Conrt ask- ing, this time, only for the territory from Bolton, the committee on the part of Hudson deciding by a ma- jority vote that the Berlin territory was not of enough consequence to repay any further labor in obtaining it. With the growth of the town in a westerly direc- tion and the need that is being felt more and more every year, it is unfortunate perhaps that this deci- sion was made, as it is becoming evident yearly that this Berlin territory would be a valuable addition to Hudson, but, left as it is, can never be of much value to the town of Berlin, and will never grow in popula- tion or value as it now is.

It is unnecessary to go into detail as to the second contest over the Bolton territory, except to say that it was conducted practically in the same manner and upon the same lines as in the previous year on the part of the petitioners. Mr. Hoar, however, did not appear again in the matter, and the counsel for the town of Bolton resisted the petition upon the same grounds presented before, dropping as unten- able Mr. Hoar's theory of the unconstitutionality of a change of county or political lines. The petition- ers obtained a favorable report from the Committee on Towns, but were beaten by a majority of one in the House. This was a disappointing result to the Hud- son party, and immediately new petitions were sent out and preparations made for a renewal of the con- test before the Legislature to convene in 1868.

When it was found that nothing less than separation would satisfy the people living on the territory in dis- pute, the committee representing the town of Bolton came to the conclusion that it was only a question of time when they would be obliged to assent, and that, as discretion is the better part of valor, the proper thing to do was to let them go and make the best bargain possible for Bolton. The Hudson committee of five, consisting of Francis Brigham, Joseph S. Bradley, George Houghton, James T. Joslin and Augustus K. Graves, therefore found an entirely dif- ferent disposition manifested on the part of their old adversaries in the fall of '67, when they met to make preparations for a renewal of the contest before the Legislature of '68. Those who were interested in being set off to Hudson selected a committee of five, consisting of R. W. Derby, A. A. Powers, Jonathan P. Nourse, George A. Tripp and Daniel Stratton, and the town of Bolton's committee of five consisted of Amory Holman, E. A. Whitcomb, N. A. Newton, Joshua E. Sawyer and Roswell Barrett. These com- mittees niet several times to discuss the different phases of the situation, and after several conferences,

at which many speeches were made, and much wit and eloquence expended, an agreement was made and entered into, signed by the respective committees, which provided for a commission of three competent and disinterested persons who were resident without the limits of the counties of Worcester and Middlesex, and had not been at any time a member of any legis- lative Committee on Towns before which the matter had been previously heard, the chairman of the com- mission to be chosen by Bolton and Hudson jointly, and either town to select one of the other members of the board ; this commission to decide as to the pro- posed lines of division, and to name the terms upon which the division should take place, the decision of the commission to be final and binding upon all par- ties and to be reported to the Joint Standing Com- mittee on Towns of the next Legislature within thirty days, to be passed through the Legislature as the wish of all parties.

In accordance with the terms of this agreement the representatives of Hudson and Bolton jointly selected Hon. James D. Colt, of Pittsfield, Mass., as chairman of the commission, the IIudson committee and the petitioners selected as their member Hon. Josiah G. Abbott, and the Bolton committee selected as their representative Hon. George P. Sanger, the two last named being residents of Boston, all lawyers, and all having been judges of the higher courts of Massachu- setts. These gentlemen accepted their appointment and met as a body in Union IIall, Hudson, Tuesday, February 18, 1868, to view the premises and hear the respective parties in interest. The commission sat two days in Union llall and one day at the Town Hall in Bolton. After due deliberation, the commis- sion made a unanimous finding, fixing the town boundaries as they now exist, and providing for an equitable settlement of the financial relations of the respective towns, including the payment by Hudson to Bolton of the sum of $10,000 as an equivalent for the territory set off to Hudson, the inhabitants of this territory to pay their back taxes and other obli- gations, if any, to the town of Bolton. A Legislative act embodying this finding was submitted to the leg- islature, met no opposition there, and by the signature of Gov. Bullock, on March 20, 1868, became an established law, and ended the struggle between Bolton and Hudson, which had been going on for three years. By this addition Hudson gained a large number of new inhabitants of sterling character, a large amount of most valuable territory, and rounded out the limits of the town upon that side as they should be properly, and making the encroachment of Berlin upon that side even more noticeable and embarrassing-so undesirable, in fact, that it is entirely within reason to suppose that not many more years will pass by, without some effort being made to obtain the territory which the old committee of '67 decided not to ask for.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 60

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278